| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January |
| Coverage: Commentary every day from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra ‘Tennis Breakfast’ live from Melbourne, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website & app |
World number one Iga Swiatek needed just 55 minutes to beat Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa and breeze into the Australian Open fourth round.
Poland’s Swiatek, 21, won 6-0 6-1 on Margaret Court Arena and will play Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina next.
Third seed Jessica Pegula also enjoyed a speedy victory on Friday, taking 65 minutes to beat Marta Kostyuk 6-0 6-2.
Seventh seed Coco Gauff advanced with a 6-3 6-2 victory over American compatriot Bernarda Pera.
“I feel I’m more and more confident since day one here. I’m not even talking about matches, but also practices,” Swiatek said.
“I feel like I’ve done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court. I’m pretty happy that I did it because it’s just a little bit easier.”
Reigning French and US Open champion Swiatek faces a tough task against Rybakina, who beat last year’s Melbourne finalist Danielle Collins 6-2 5-7 6-2 to advance.
“We know each other pretty well. For me it doesn’t really matter who it’s against. I just want to stay focused on myself,” Swiatek added.
Fellow title favourite Pegula will face 2021 French Open singles champion Barbora Krejcikova for a place in the quarter-finals, while Gauff plays 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko.
Czech Krejcikova beat Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-2 6-3, while Latvia’s Ostapenko claimed a 6-3 6-0 win against Kalinina’s compatriot Kateryna Baindl.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka came from a set down to beat 10th seed Madison Keys 1-6 6-2 6-1 and will face either sixth seed Maria Sakkari or Zhu Lin in the last 16.
